Cagalli and Athrun are finally happy after the second war until the Council calls upon Athrun to return to the Plants. Everything starts falling apart afterwards. Will their love survive? Main: AxC, Other: KxL, DxM, & YxS

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Chapter 9:

'Oh God,' were Kira's thoughts when he could not feel a pulse on her and could only look down on her ashen face with disbelief. "No!" he cried out as he intensely clutched onto to her shirt.

Athrun was knocked out of his despair. He was then driven only by instinct as he grabbed hold of Kira's shoulders and forced him to look at him. They needed to save Cagalli, but first thing's first.

"Kira! Grab the medical kit. Otherwise, we will lose her," was the only thing he could say to help his friend focus back onto the problem at hand. Cagalli. They couldn't give up on her. He would not dare to do so.

Kira looked up at Athrun and nodded. He got up and ran out of the cave as fast as he could. 'There's no time to waste.'

Clearly, Athrun's thoughts were on the same path as Kira's. He ripped opened Cagalli's shirt to begin CPR on her. His mind buzzed through his memories to recollect his training, on what steps to take. He tilted her head and lifted her chin.

He continued with the same process, over and over again. "Cagalli don't you dare give up and leave!" he yelled at her, hoping for some kind of reaction from her.

Finally, Kira arrived back with the medical kit. "The Archangel is nearby and waiting for our arrival. Everything is set." He alerted Athrun as he took out the necessary instruments from the medical kit.

Athrun could only nod, indicating he heard him and took notice that Kira was pulling out the automated external defibrillator (AED). He stopped to allow Kira place the machine on Cagalli.

'Please let this work,' was their only thought as the AED activated.

Cagalli's body was jolted and Athrun checked for her pulse afterwards. Nothing. He continued to breathe into her while the AED prepared for the next shock. He suddenly stopped as the AED activated again. Both Kira and Athrun could only stare as they saw her body jolt once more. And again, Athrun checked for her pulse, his eyes closed as he concentrated. 'There!' he felt the faint thrumming of her pulse. However, they both noticed her breathing was strenuous.

Kira pulled out the oxygen mask to put over her nose and mouth, but as he pulled his hands away from the back of her head, he noticed the stickiness on his hands. 'Blood.' He felt panic for a moment and his expressions did not go unnoticed by Athrun.

"Kira, give me the bandages. We need to put as much pressure on her head wound to stall the bleeding."

"Right"

Between the two of them, they were able to place a small towel on the laceration and wrapped the bandages on her head as best they could.

"That should do for now Athrun," Kira said as he picked up the medical kit, "let's get her to the Archangel."

Athrun agreed and picked Cagalli's limp body from the ground and followed Kira out the cave. Kira jumped into the Freedom and called out Athrun.

"I'll take you back to the Justice."

Kira then lowered one of the hands down to Athrun and allowed him to climb on while clutching Cagalli's body. Moments later Kira had flown Athrun back to where they had left Justice and once again found himself in the cockpit with Cagalli in his arms.

On the way to the Archangel, Athrun could only look down onto Cagalli. She looked so pale, so fragile, and she felt very light. He could tell that she had lost a lot of weight and could only feel guilt within his heart.

'I'm so sorry, Cagalli. I hope you could forgive me someday.'

Shortly after their arrival onto the Archangel, Cagalli was carried off to the medical ward on the ship. Everything was ready for her arrival. The machines were set up, the instruments laid next to the bed and the staff had their instructions. None were sure of what to expect, but they certainly weren't prepared for the reality.

The injury to Cagalli's head was still bleeding, her breathing was labored, her pulse was weak, not to mention her body was completely taxed. Dr. Kyo was placed in charge of overseeing to Cagalli's medical needs. The moment he saw her, he feared she would not survive through another day. He prayed he was wrong and was determined to help the young girl survive through this ordeal.

Meanwhile, Kira and Athrun were with Captain Ramius, Waltfeld and La Flaga on the bridge. They were all anxiously awaiting to hear from Dr. Kyo. Cagalli had been wheeled into the room a couple of hours ago.

"How much longer will it take for them to let us know how she's doing?" Kira exclaimed. He was a nervous wreck. All he could do is pace back and forth.

"Calm down Kira. The doctor will come and give us a status as soon as he can. To him, Cagalli's health is his first and only priority at this moment." Murrue said, trying to calm the young man who she has grown to care for as a son.

Kira sighed and finally sat in one of the empty seats, "I know. I just…" he softly said as he closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. He did not finish his thoughts nor did he need to, everyone in the room knew perfectly well what his unspoken words were. Everyone felt the same. Everyone agreed. Frustration, fear, powerless, and hope, to name a few, were some of the feelings that were strongly coursing through each and every one of them.

They all remained silent for a moment until Mwu decided to voice his concern. Something had been bothering him and had not been mentioned to either of the young coordinators since their arrival. "Kira? Did you see anybody else on the island while you were there?"

This got their attention. Both Kira's and Athrun's heads shot up at the unexpected question.

Kira shook his head, "no, no one. Why do you ask?" he asked cautiously.

"Who else did you expect to be on the island?" Athrun was also cautious. He agreed with Kira, he knew La Flaga would not ask unless he had a reason to do so.

La Flaga looked over to Waltfeld and Ramius, silently asking if he should continue only to receive a nod from each of them. 'Of course, let me be the one to stir trouble,' his thoughts filled with sarcasm. He silently sighed, "Might as well face the firing squad," he muttered to himself. With resignation he started to explain, "When we were approaching, we saw a helicopter fly away from the island. We were unable to identify it, but it certainly was not one of ours."

"We did try to make contact with the pilot, but all of our calls went unanswered," said Murrue.

"There was no one there when we arrived at the cave," Athrun stated.

"Yeah, but then again we were more concerned in getting to Cagalli after we heard the explosion and we certainly weren't looking to find anyone else," Kira rationalized.

"I have a feeling, whoever that pilot was he or she had something to do with that explosion." They all looked at Waltfeld, waiting for him to explain his theory. "It is too coincidental that as soon as we see the chopper take off, we see smoke coming from within the island."

Everyone sat there, each with their own thoughts on the matter.

Kira turned to Murrue, "we must contact Kisaka to send a team to investigate the area. Neither one of us," he gestured towards Athrun and himself, "stopped to think about investigating how the fire was started, but I'm certain it had to be deliberate. From what I saw, the fire covered the entire entrance and it did not go any further from there."

Captain Ramius was about to respond when the door opened and the doctor walked in.

Athrun was the first one to speak up, "How is she?"

Dr. Kyo looked at everyone for a moment before responding, "We have stabilized her for the moment, but we need to get her back to Orb immediately. We stopped the bleeding and stitched up the laceration, however, without the appropriate equipment, I cannot determine if there is any swelling to the brain, fractures and/or bleeding." He sighed, "I'm sorry to say that she has fallen into a coma and her oxygen levels are dangerously low. Her lungs are full of liquid and could collapse at any moment if we do not apply the proper medical measures."

"May we see her?" Kira asked.

"I honestly do not believe it would be a good idea, but due to the extraordinary circumstances, I will allow a few minutes. But you will need to follow my directives in maintaining the preventive measures I have set."

Waltfeld looked at the doctor, "preventive measures?"

"The risk for her to receive any type of infection is very high and we need to avoid this at all cost."

"We understand Dr. Kyo. Thank you for the update and all the hard work to help the Representative," Captain Ramius looks over to Kira and Athrun, "why don't you two be the first ones to see her, we'll go afterwards. In the meantime, we will get a hold of Kisaka."

Both coordinators nodded their heads in agreement and followed the doctor out of the bridge and set off to see Cagalli.

After the proper preparations, they were finally allowed to enter the room where Cagalli laid asleep. They couldn't bear to see her so weak and fragile. It was a complete turn around from her true nature. Her head was wrapped in bandages; she had an oxygen mask, and was hooked up to several machines.

Kira walked up to her and held her hand. "Hang in there Sis. Don't you dare give up! We are all here with you," he softly said and bent down to place a kiss on her forehead. He then turned to look at Athrun and nodded before walking out the room, leaving Athrun alone with Cagalli.

Athrun hesitated for a moment, but then started walking up to her. He grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on it, "I've missed you so much. Please Cagalli, don't leave me, I need you by my side. There is so much I want to tell you, no, I need to tell you. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere," he placed another kiss on her hand and rubbed it against his cheek, "come back to me my Cagalli."

All he could do was hope and prey that she could hear him and take all the strength she needed to survive from him. For the love of his life, he was willing to give up anything.

I know there wasn't much to this chapter, but I promise the next one will be better.

There's more to this story and many paths to choose from, but which ones will it take.

Thank you for continuing to read my story and please do take a moment and review.

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